Road Structures

Ethiopia is to benefit from a series of road upgrade and road construction projects with a total value of some US$2.51 billion. So far 58 separate road contracts have been awarded by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA). The contracts vary, with some being for the construction of new roads and others for upgrading work, including surfacing rural dirt roads with asphalt.

Chile’s landmark Chacao Bridge project could be ready for traffic by mid-2021, according to the Ministry of Public Works. The 2.76km suspension bridge will connect the Chilean mainland with Chiloe Island, replacing the current ferry service and helping to develop the local economy. The project is costing around US$700 million. The cranes that will be used to install the main sections of the bridge will arrive on site shortly. A new schedule for the project will be announced early in 2018.

A South Korean construction company looks set to carry out a key contract in Qatar. The job entails widening a section of highway measuring nearly 3km long from its present six lanes to eight lanes. The South Korean contractor, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, also looks set to carry out the auxiliary infrastructure portions of the road widening project, such as installing the necessary drainage and building new junctions. In all the project is costing close to US$434 million while the work should take

Construction work on Chile’s Americo Vespucio Oriente 1 (AVO 1) highway is starting somewhat later than was originally planned. Originally construction of the new highway was to have commenced in September 2016, but this was then held back first to July 2017 and finally to October 2017.

Construction work for an 82km stretch of road in Bolivia is proceeding within the planned schedule. Work on the new road should be complete in July-August 2018. The new road section will provide an improved connection from Riberalta to El Triangulo, located in Beni State in the north-east of Bolivia. Construction work is being carried out by a Chinese contractor and in all, the project is for a 508km stretch of road with the total project expected to cost US$608 million.

The cost of the Padma Bridge Project in Bangladesh could rise by around US$173 million, according to a report by the Financial Express newspaper. A Planning Commission official said the money would be needed for compulsory purchase of nearly 2,6700 more hectares. Work started in 2014 and the project is likely to finish by the end of 2018.

Croatia’s roads agency Hrvatske Ceste will soon start evaluating tenders for the controversial Peljeski Bridge project, according to national media. Bids for construction of the four-lane 2.4km long bridge have been submitted by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, Austria's Strabag as well as consortia headed by Italy’s Astaldi and the Turkish company Ictas. The bridge will connect Croatian territory by traversing the Adriatic Sea’s Mali Ston Bay.

The Elizabeth River Tunnels Project in Norfolk, Virginia is now complete. This follows the earlier completion of the Midtown Tunnel and the MLK Expressway extension. The entire project has been completed around 12 months earlier than had been originally planned, helping to drive down costs for the work. With the new tunnels and expressway extension open to traffic, peak time congestion will be vastly reduced in the area around Norfolk. The region also carries large volumes of holiday traffic at times, so th